The partnership, which the British government also hopes to use as testing ground for future policy, will also allow Amazon to test sensor equipment that will help drones identify and avoid obstacles, and scenarios in which one person manages multiple highly-automated drones at the same time. It’s now partnering with the United Kingdom government to expand trials of its drones to cover various delivery scenarios.
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Announced on Tuesday, the e-commerce giant and government officials said the collaboration will “explore the steps needed to make the delivery of parcels by small drones a reality”.
While that effectively precludes the sort of robo-delivery services being developed by Amazon and other major vendors, the new rules will nonetheless ensure drones become increasingly commonplace in the skies.
“We want to enable the innovation that arises from the development of drone technology by safely integrating drones into the overall aviation system”, Tim Johnson, policy director at the CAA, said in the statement.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration released in June its final rules for the operation of “small unmanned aircraft,” limiting their weight to 55 pounds and to flying only during day at less than 400 feet altitude, within the visual line of sight of the operator of the drone.
According to Amazon, the CAA will be involved during the testing to ensure safe use of drones beyond line of sight.
After these key issues and concerns are addressed, Amazon will be much closer to delivering its “drone army” promise, and there’s every chance it’ll actually work. “The UK is charting a path forward for drone technology that will benefit consumers, industry and society”. “These tests by Amazon will help inform our policy and future approach”.
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Amazon cares about drones because the technology could make parcel delivery cheap, especially if the company maintains its breakneck rate of growth; analysts say that once the technology is fully deployed, it could cost as little as a few cents per delivery.
